Different Perception
by Envoy of the White Moon
Summary: A different perception of Naruto Uzumaki. What would have happened if the Naruto known by all, is just a fraud? What if the real one is not a stupid and weak as everyone perceives him as? Their perception of him shall be rocked to the core.
1. Chapter 1: Not Who You Knew

**Different Perception**

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><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

**The usual about all of the Japanese honorifics and short words, I will not use them. **

**The pairing in this story will not be for a very long time. So don't expect a lot of romance for now.**

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><p><strong>Author's Rants:<strong>

**I'm starting at the night of the Forbidden Scroll Incident.**

**I do not own Naruto.**

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><p><strong>Different Person Arc: Episode I<strong>

**Not Who You Knew**

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><p><em>Perception:<em>

_The act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding._

_Source: http:/ dictionary. reference. com / browse / perception (Remove spaces for URL)_

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><p>"You are the Nine-Tailed Fox Naruto!" Mizuki shouted with a wild, sinister grin on his face. He smirked viciously when he saw Naruto's eyes become shadowed over by his hair and his head lower in sadness. Or so he believed.<p>

"What's so funny?" Mizuki snarled when he saw a quick humored chuckle escape the blonde academy student's lips.

"I've known about the Nine-Tailed Fox my whole life you dumbass," Naruto said coolly.

"Ha! So admit to being- urk!" Mizuki hissed as a kunai zipped by his face, tearing open a wound. He scowled due to the fact he was barely able to dodge that! How could he, a chunin, not be able to see a kunai thrown by not even a graduate! That was shameful!

"I said I've known about it you moron. I never said anything about being the Nine-Tailed Fox," the orange garbed civilian stated. "It's not that hard to pick up a book in the Hokage's office and read you idiot."

"Tch, doesn't matter either way Nine-Tails, once I kill you I'll be a hero!" Mizuki pulled off one of the fuma-shurikens on his back and readied it is his hand. "Now, die!" he yelled, flinging the large shuriken at Naruto.

Before Mizuki even saw it happen, and before Iruka could even attempt to protect the jinchûriki, the fuma-shuriken crashed to the ground with a loud, 'Thung!'

"What the!" Mizuki screeched.

"How?" Iruka whispered to himself.

"Was that throw really meant to kill me?" Naruto asked while toying around with the handle of a kunai. "Because if that throw was really beaten by one of my weakest, well by my standards anyway, then you have no way of beating me anytime soon."

"What!" Mizuki hissed as he looked at the grounded fuma-shuriken. And, lo and behold, there was a shuriken embedded into the base of two of the fuma-shuriken's blades.

'_When has Naruto ever been like this_?' Iruka asked himself. '_There's no anger or frustration in being the jinchûriki. There's no resentment for being withheld the information. He doesn't even seem to be scared at all. In fact_,' Iruka looked directly at the blonde and gauged the aura that surrounded the blonde. '_He's completely cool and collected, confident even! And the way he threw that shuriken and deflected the fuma-shuriken! If that's his _weakest_ throw, then that means he's been holding back._' Iruka's eyes narrowed as he gazed at the orange-jumpsuit-wearing blonde. '_How much of you have we seen in the academy the real you?_'

"Tch! I'll just have to go all out on yo-" Mizuki suddenly stopped in his unneeded villain ranting when he felt something connect with both of his palms and ankles, causing him to fly backwards into a tree. The traitorous chunin tried his best to move when he stopped but realized he was pinned against the tree with kunais.

"Arrrgggghhh! You son of a bitch!" Mizuki yelled in pain. "I'll fucking kill you! Hurk!" this time he felt a kunai embed itself into his knees and his shoulders. "Nraaagghhh!"

"Talk about my mother like that and I'll make sure you die a bloody death you traitorous piece of shit," Naruto said coldly, his eyes an ice blue like color. "Iruka-sensei!" he shouted, turning to the chunin, "You've already alerted the Old Man where I was correct?"

"Ah! Yes, of course!" Iruka acknowledged, as he stood up wobbly. "He should be sending a contingent of ANBU here any moment."

"Well then, they're a little late for the show."

"Huh?" Iruka asked bewildered, staring questioningly at the #1 knucklehead prankster of the Hidden Leaf until he felt five strong signatures appear in the clearing they were in. '_How did Naruto even know they were here before me?_'

"Good evening Cat, Boar, Tiger, Falcon and Dragon."

"Now is not the time for pleasantries Naruto-kun," Cat giggled.

"She's right you know," Tiger stated in a bored tone.

"You have something Naruto?" Dragon asked, holding out his hand.

"Oh yeah. Here ya go!" the blonde said as he hefted the Forbidden Scroll of the Hidden Leaf into the ANBU captains hand. "Make sure not to get that thing lost now ya hear?" Naruto teased. "I don't want to have to be the one to search all over the place for it while everyone else has their chopped off chicken heads shoved up their asses do I?" he said in a somewhat condescending voice.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun," Cat said after she had bashed the blonde over the head, causing him to crash into the ground with smoke rising from his head. "Just leave everything to us." One could tell she was not happy with the blonde's tone of voice.

Of course it was almost impossible to find Naruto Uzumaki (Namikaze) whenever he did not want to be found. How in the Elemental Nations could one boy, garbed in a 'Kill-me-now-orange' manage to evade not only chunin and jonin, but ANBU as well after painting the Hokage Monument! The thing was frigging near the HQ of the ANBU yet they didn't even realize until he announced it to the whole village! Needless to say, Naruto Uzumaki (Namikaze) had put the whole of the Leaf's ninja forces to shame. It was even more shameful due to the fact that this boy, not even a ninja, was able to beat their Hokage. Not only that, he was able to sneak into the Hokage Tower, the most highly secured building of all in the Leaf, only second to the ANBU HQ. Even the HQ wasn't safe from Naruto due to the fact he pulled a prank in the HQ and was able to escape the ANBU infested building without anyone knowing where he went.

People were either getting too lax in the time of piece, or Naruto was just that much better than anyone else was.

"My, my, so scary," Naruto said in a bored voice as he got up and dusted himself off. "You guys going to take out the trash too?" he asked as he looked at the bloody heap still connected to the tree.

When all five of the ANBU had turned to see what Naruto was looking at, they all seemed to have frozen. To anyone else, they would have looked the same as usual. But to Naruto, his trained eyes saw them freeze for a microsecond and jump only a micrometer. He knew they were surprised to see Mizuki in such a state, but they must have been surprised to find out who did it.

"Iruka, did you do that to Mizuki?" Dragon asked as Boar and Tiger walked over to the traitorous chunin.

"I didn't," Iruka stated, "Naruto did it to him before I could even see the kunais flying. All I saw was a very fast movement of his arm and then I saw Mizuki pinned to that tree. Do you also see that shuriken?" the scarred chunin asked. Cat and Falcon walked over it and found a shuriken embedded it the side of the weapon and held it up in the dim moonlight. "Naruto was able to stop it with that shuriken."

Dragon nodded and turned to his squad who held the evidence of the occurrence and the traitor. "We're returning to Lord Hokage team. Move out!"

'_I'll need to report about Naruto's abilities to Lord Hokage. He'll want to know that everything known about Uzumaki, Naruto is all false._'

"Yes sir!"

"Before you go," Naruto interrupted, whilst he leaned against a tree examining his fingernails, "He broke the Third Hokage's law about telling the younger generation about the Nine-Tailed Fox before he attacked me and Iruka-sensei. As such, he must be interned to the Interrogation and Torture Department before being imprisoned for life."

'_So Mizuki broke Lord Hokage's law eh?_' Dragon thought to himself. "Thank you for the information Naruto," the ANBU captain said as he turned back to his squad. "Boar, Tiger, you two know what to do as soon as we get back." That was an order, not a question.

"Yes sir!"

The five ANBU plus one unconscious chunin phased out of existence and headed to the leaf.

"Naruto?" Iruka asked as he approached the blonde two-time academy failure.

"Hmm?" Naruto asked as he turned around to the scarred chunin. "Yes Iruka-sensei?"

"Have you really been holding back this entire time Naruto?" When he received a nod, he sighed sadly. "Why have you been holding back Naruto. I thought you wanted to be the next Hokage? Aren't you supposed to be the best if you want to be the Hokage?"

"I do, but I wanted to wait for a moment like this."

"Huh? What do you mean Naruto?"

"I meant I would rather become a ninja the real way. I wanted a rite of passage to start my ninja career. Do you really think I want to earn my forehead-protector by just passing some idiotic bullshit tests? Please. Save those for the wannabe ninjas and those who dream of glamorous careers as murderers." Naruto spoke softly as he gazed upon the moon. "In this world, only death, destruction, pain, famine, vengeance and hatred thrive. I want to change all of that."

"How are you going to do that Naruto? We need the ninja system in place, it's the only thing we can do to keep balance among the Elemental Nations."

"Then I'll find a way! My mother and father gave up their lives to stop a madman who wanted nothing but revenge! I was given one of the greatest curses in the world, yet it is my greatest strength and gift! My grandfather received a prophecy that I would be the one to destroy the ninja system and bring about peace to our world! And my gramps is one of the strongest men in this world! And my great-great-grandfather was the one who was able to bring peace between his clan and the madman's clan! I have a legacy to uphold, and I am the living legacy of those who have fought long and hard to bring down this ninja system and bring about peace! I'm not going to let any of them down! When I become the Hokage, like my father and ancestors before me, I will change this world so that a better future may shine!"

"Naruto-you-" Iruka said then stopped. He smiled at the young blonde and began to realize that this was not the Naruto he once knew before. The one before was never serious, never resolute, and never had a truely unwavering conviction and will. The chunin smiled as he walked over to the short for his age group kid and bent down onto his knee.

"Close your eyes Naruto." Naruto did as asked of him and stood perfectly still and heard a piece of fabric unfurled and his goggles leave his head and become replaced with a different object.

"This is..." Naruto whispered to himself as he touched the heavy metal plate attached to the headband. "This is a forehead-protector. Iruka-sensei you-"

"I never told you the reason why I came after you did I? I came here because I didn't want you to get hurt Naruto. You remind me much of myself when I was your age. I was quite a prankster myself you know. That's the reason why I didn't want you to confront Mizuki by yourself. I consider you to be a little brother Naruto."

"Iruka-sensei..." Naruto whispered as he felt tears well up into his eyes.

"Congratulations Naruto. You're now officially a genin of the Hidden Leaf Vill- oof!" Iruka wasn't prepared for the blonde and orange bullet that tackled him to the ground, but he only smiled softly as he hugged the young boy.

"Thank you so much Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said as he bawled his eyes out. He had never had anyone, other than the Ichirakus and the Old Man, tell him he was like family.

After a minute of crying into the chunin's vest, Iruka looked down at the blonde and asked, "You okay now Naruto?"

"Yeah, thanks," the blonde now genin said as he smiled a true smile at his surrogate older brother. "Hey can we go get some ramen Iruka-nii?"

"Sure. Why not?" Iruka said as he stood up and pulled the blonde up as well.

"All right! Let's go!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran back to the Leaf, pulling along his sensei/older brother.

"Slow down Naruto!" Iruka shouted, somewhat amused judging by the smile on his face, "Ichiraku doesn't open until 6:30 a.m.!"

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><p><strong>Authors Notes:<strong>

**Short chapter, huh? Anyway, this is supposed to for in-between readings of Memories Lost, Lingering Futures. As always, read and review.**


	2. Chapter 2: True Colors

Different Perception

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><p><strong>Author's Notes: Chapter 2 occurs during the time of the team selections and the genin squad test.<strong>

**Teams will be canon. And no, there will be no canon Sasuke. Sasuke will be given leeway and not be a complete and utter bastard. He will have some arrogance, but it will be curbed. And his reasons for abandoning the Leaf will be a different reason other than wanting power.**

**Also, team selections occur during the day of the team meetings between jonin leader and genin squad. Genins are called to the academy at 0700 hours and the meeting to discuss the appointment of genins occurs at 0730 hours. The squad assignment to jonin squad leaders occurs at 0800 hours. Please remember this information, it will play an important role in the plot for this episode.**

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><p><strong>Author's Rants: F*cking read and review! I need reviews my faithful readers! It is my life force! Please feed this pitiful soul...<strong>

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><p><strong>Different Person Arc: Episode II<strong>

**True Colors**

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><p>Gathered within the Hokage's Tower was a crowd of jonins awaiting the arrival of their leader, the Hokage, so that they may commence with the team selections for this years graduates from the Ninja Academy. Amongst their selves, they had collected into certain groups or cliques, many of those who knew one another.<p>

One particular group stood out amongst the others though.

"So who are you going to choose my sworn rival?" came the exuberant question from one Maito Gai.

"Hmm? You say something Gai?" Kakashi asked when he had removed his head from the proverbial clouds they were stuck in.

"Curse you and your hip coolness Kakashi!" Maito Gai then proceeded to do his famous rants about being able to do an impossible task, for a normal human, and if not being able to fulfill that task, fulfill an even more impossible. Yep, it was the usual.

"I'm already set on my genin squad," Asuma Sarutobi said as he took a drag from his cigarette. He wasn't surprised when his long time childhood friend, Kurenai Yuhi pulled the tobacco product out from between his lips and proceeded to scold him. He chuckled nervously as he received his punishment.

"So who're you going to take for your squad Asuma?" Kurenai asked after she had chewed out her childhood friend.

"I was thinking about training Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi."

"_The next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho huh?_" Kakashi mused to himself.

"What about you Gai?" Asuma asked. "Oh, wait! That's right, you still have your squad from last year! Sorry about that."

"No worries my hip young friend!"

"Erm, right."

"So what about you Kurenai?" Kakashi asked after he had mentally remembered who his genin squad would, probably if they were good enough, face in the Chunin Exams. He had to calculate who would be the best to take down the competition. And he knew who would be the best for that job.

"I'm thinking of getting Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburume and Hinata Hyuga," the red-eyed recently promoted jonin explained as she looked over to the door and in walked the Hokage.

"_A tracker team huh? I know the perfect team for this. I just hope Naruto will actually kick those others' asses in gear_," Kakashi thought to himself as he and the rest of the jonins, and what few chunins in the room for administration, stood at attention for their leader.

When the aged Third Hokage had entered the room and passed all of the present jonin, flanked by his two advisors, he had a regal air about himself as he made his way to his seat. When he had arrived at his seat and sat down, his two advisors taking their seats beside him, he had removed his hat and set it upon the table and folded his hands.

"Let the genin selections begin."

"Lord Hokage, I, Kurenai Yuhi, wish to take Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburume and Hinata Hyuga as my genin squad."

"Lord Hokage, I, Asuma Sarutobi, wish to take Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi as my genin squad."

The following squad selections were all phased out as Kakashi zoned out once more back to the scars of his past.

'_Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the road of life._'

'_Hey, Kakashi-kun, want to go on a date?'_

'_Remember Kakashi, you must make sure your friends are safe.'_

'_I guess this is my only thing I can give to you as a birthday present Kakashi. Please, protect Rin-chan.'_

'_Kakashi, I entrust my son to you.'_

'_I don't want to die Kakashi-kun.'_

'_Damnit all to hell,'_ Kakashi cursed to himself. He was jogged out of it when he felt someone shaking his shoulder vigorously.

"Kakashi! Kakashi! Are you alright?" The silver haired man turned to see the form of Anko Mitarashi with her hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he shook his head. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"So Kakashi, are you going to pick a squad or are you going to forgo one again?" Hiruzen asked as he leaned his chin on his upraised fist.

"Lord Hokage," Kakashi began. Many believed that he would forgo a genin squad as he always did due to the fact that they would always fail his test. He set his standards far too high. But what he said next surprised them, "I, Kakashi Hatake, wish to take Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki as my genin team."

Many of the attending jonin and administrating chunin gaped at the last name Kakashi had called. Sure many of them had expected Kakashi to take train Sasuke Uchiha due to the fact Kakashi had training with his Sharingan. But to ask for Naruto Uzumaki as well, that was preposterous! But none could challenge that unless it was the Hokage himself.

"Very well. We shall meet back here- wait." Hiruzen paused as he pulled out his crystal ball and scryed upon the room of the genin graduates. What he saw before had caused his eyes to widen slightly.

"Iruka, you are here, yes?" the aged Sarutobi asked as he raised his head.

"I'm here Lord Hokage. What is it?" Iruka asked as he approached the desk of the Hokage.

"Well then, it seems we have a Naruto Prank about to occur," the Third chuckled.

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><p>"Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha under Kakashi Hatake."<p>

"Yes! True love conquers all! Beat that Ino-pig!"

Surprisingly, Naruto had been quiet during all of this, only nodding when he was assigned his team, but never having made eye contact with anyone.

"Team 8 will be Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburume and Hinata Hyuga under Kurenai Yuhi.

"Team 9 is still in circulation from last year.

"Team 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi under Asuma Sarutobi."

Iruka pulled the clipboard under his arm and then turned his attention back to the students. "I want to congratulate you all for becoming-" Poof! Iruka went as he exploded into a cloud of smoke and paint splattered everyone in the room except for Naruto, who, if anyone had noticed, poofed out of existence as well.

"Naruto! You idiot!"

"Loser."

"What a drag."

"My hair!"

"Graduate Test against exploding paint clone: Failure," the cold voice of Naruto sounded from the front of the class. All students turned their heads toward the person up front and glared at the blonde boy in front of them. Their eyes widened though when they saw that this was a completely different person.

The boy, or young teen, stood at 165 (five foot, ten inches) centimeters, far taller than the students were. He also had a well-toned physique due to the developed six pack that shown through the mesh shirt. Over his mesh shirt he wore an open dark-blue kimono top with two orange circles on either side of the flaps. His hakama was black with an orange trimming while his obi sash was a burnt orange color. On the orange obi sash was a metal plate with a symbol of a swirl in the middle. Wrapped around his neck was a long orange colored scarf, about 92 centimeters long (3 feet).

Strapped to his side was an ornate katana with an orange cloth wrapping around the handle and a swirl being the guard with the pommel being yellow colored. The sheath itself was made out of black lacquered walnut wood and had the carvings of a red bird on one side and a blue dragon on the other. On his forehead was a black clothed forehead-protector with a metal plate with the symbol for the Hidden Leaf on it.

"You guys fail," the stranger said in a bored tone as his cold blue eyes scanned them over. "If that clone of mine were anything else, say an Exploding Clone, all of you would be dead right now. If that clone were a medium for holding together a kunai bomb, then you guys would be dead before your heads even hit the desk. I'm sorry to say that those two," he said, pointing at an irate Sakura and annoyed Sasuke, "are going to be in for a hell of a time when our sensei gets us."

"How the hell would you know who the teams are?" Kiba asked irritably as he whipped off paint from himself and Akamaru. He was slightly irked due to the fact that he wasn't able to detect this obvious prank.

"I have eyes all over the place," the blonde said mysteriously. "I think all my pranks should have alerted all of you guys about my abilities. But no," he sighed. "No one realized I was smarter than I was and was holding back the whole time."

"Like you could beat anyone loser," Sasuke said coldly as he seated himself back in his chair.

"Oh really? Then how is it that I, the loser of the Ninja Academy, was able to paint the Hokage Monument, a monument that everyone observes when they walk about? How is it that no one, not even the ANBU, in their headquarters nearby, were not able to detect me when I was pulling off my stunt? How is it that I was able to dodge and outrun the chunin, jonin, and ANBU sent to capture me when I had pulled this stunt, while wearing orange I might add? And also, how is it I was able to break in and sneak through the Hokage Tower, steal the Forbidden Scroll of the Hidden Leaf and disable the Hokage in one jutsu? Tell me, how am I weaker than you when I could have had a number of opportunities to destroy this village without it even noticing?"

All of those in the room, including those watching, gaped like fish as the information about Naruto ran itself through their heads over and over and over again. Then it clicked.

'_What a drag. This, is what we're going to face now?'_

'_Damn, when did I not realize it?'_

'_When did Naruto grow a backbone?'_

'_N-Naruto-k-kun...'_

'_Man, Naruto seems cooler now. Munch, munch.'_

'_Shit, he just oozes alpha male. Damn, there goes the neighborhood. I just hope Hana doesn't come across Naruto and try and flirt with him. Poor bastard, I pity the guy who breaks my sisters heart. Hehe... going to be funny though.'_

'_So you are more than meets the eye Naruto.'_

"Sakura, Sasuke," Naruto said as he trained his eyes on the two. "We're meeting our sensei at training ground 7 at 1200 hours. Remember that." In a poof of smoke, Naruto Uzumaki, the once prankster, now true ninja, disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"How did Naruto get so good at the Clone Justsu? I thought he sucked at it," Ami asked as she, and the rest of the class, stared at the place the clone once stood. She was smacked in the face by a piece of paper a second later. She pulled it off quickly and read aloud, " 'P.S. That was a Shadow Clone, not a normal Clone.' What the heck is a Shadow Clone?" she asked as the paper in her hand poofed out of existence.

"Umm... Lord Hokage, may I switch Kiba Inuzuka for Naruto Uzumaki?" Kurenai asked after a few moments of stunned silence. "I think Naruto would be a better person to fulfill the roll of attack and reconnaissance.

The paperwork sitting on the Third Hokage's desk poofed and in a cloud of smoke revealed to be Naruto. "A pretty woman wants me for her squad? I'm touched," he said in teasing voice. "But I'm sorry that I only accept senseis who accept me for who I am, not what they perceived me to be."

Everyone who knew Naruto flinched when they received the harsh comment. Well, all except Kakashi, Hiruzen and Iruka.

"My sensei is Kakashi Hatake. My squad members of Team 7 are Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Is that acceptable Lord Hokage?" Naruto asked after he had jumped off the desk, landed and bowed before the Hokage.

"Request for the team is... accepted. Kakashi, you may now proceed as desired."

Before Kakashi could even speak, Naruto disappeared into a cloud of smoke once more and left all those around him stunned as they were all covered in rainbow paint. Luckily, Kakashi and the Hokage were able to realize the prank before it was even set up.

"Looks like even the jonin of this village need to get their asses in gear," the Third said as he washed his hat off. Kakashi just shrugged and shunshined out of the meeting area.

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><p>"Genin Assignment Jonins against Exploding Paint Clone overall grade: Failure." Naruto turned his head back to the direction of the south upon his father's head and sighed sadly. "I'm all out of paint now," he moaned.<p>

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><p><strong>Author's Notes: read and review! I have no reviews for the last chapter people!<strong>


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